Alumni authors: V-Z

Stand Tall Little Girl, 2017, Trigger Press

I was diagnosed with anorexia when I was 16 having lived with it since the age of 13. I then spent a year in hospital recovering when I was 17 and managed my mental health since then.

After a rocky year in 2016 I decided I wanted to share my story and I started opening up, writing and talking. The book about my recovery has now been published.

Since opening up lots of people have started sharing with me. Part of the book talks about how I coped with my mental health at University and I believe this book will help others with similar struggles. 

Triumphs of Change - Architecture Reconsidered, 2011, Peter Lang

This book is born out of a sense of scepticism with self-indulgence in architecture. It seeks a new prescription for readdressing architecture as an expression of human need. Sense, sagacity and the sublime define the architectural realities of its organising principle, while gods and goddesses; princes and prelates; corporate clients and citizens identify strategic shifts in Western Civilisation. The book carries the judgment of democracy derived from Greek goddess Athena. This is followed by the measured building world of Le Thoronet which advances unswervingly towards the Paris Opera - the greatest processional triumph of the 19th Century. The finale deals with Frank Lloyd Wright at Falling Water, Le Corbusier at Ronchamp, Renzo Piano at Kansai Airport, Japan, and Santiago Calatrava's winged vehemence at Milwaukee, USA.

The book concludes with a thoughtful reminder - emphasising the values of human engagement while providing philosophical support for the social contract in architecture

True Religion, 2015, Chelsea Station Editions

An unexpected encounter with an otherworldly spirit at a holiday party in the Orenda Valley sends Seth Davis, a gay journalist from Manhattan, on a profound religious journey. Along the way, Seth stumbles into a quarreling coven of witches in the charming tourist town of Hope Springs, Pennsylvania, formerly known as Hell’s Ferry, and one of the most haunted destinations in America. As Seth learns more of the town’s remarkable history, he also uncovers his own shocking past, and in order to seek peace for his troubled soul, he must determine the fate of the coven, the town, and the entire Orenda Valley. True Religion, J.L. Weinberg’s debut novel, is a genre-bending fusion of paranormal horror, spiritual therapy, American history, and New Age enlightenment.

True Religion is available from Amazon in Kindle and Paperback. 

An Act of Peace, 2005, Weidenfeld & Nicolson

This is the story of Klaus-Pierre Dessin, the illegitimate son of a young French woman and a high-ranking German soldier, who fall in love in Paris during the Nazi occupation in WWII. He goes to university in Heidelberg and England where he discovers that people are similar regardless of nationality. And he falls in love...

The Emperor's Irish Slaves: Prisoners of the Japanese in the Second World War, History Press, 2012

Sister Mary Cooper died in a Japanese prison camp on 26 June 1943, from the combined effects of starvation, brutality, and tropical diseases. Timothy Kenneally and Patrick Fitzgerald tried to escape from a slave labour camp on the Burma Railway: They were caught, tortured – probably crucified – and then executed on 27 March 1943. And Patrick Carberry spent the summer of 1943 cremating the emaciated corpses of his comrades, who had died of cholera.

These people had two things in common: they were Irish citizens serving in the British armed forces; and they were amongst more than 650 Irish men and women who became prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Army in 1942. Nearly a quarter of them died whilst in Japanese captivity – this is their story.  

Experiencing Endings and Beginnings, 2013, Karnac Books

Throughout life we undergo many changes in our circumstances, beginnings and endings of relationships, gains and losses. This book highlights the emotional turmoil which, to a greater or lesser extent, accompanies these changes. It considers the nature of the anxieties aroused by a new situation and the ending of a previous state at various stages in life. Endings and beginnings are shown to be closely related, for every new situation entered into, more often than not, involves having to let go of some of the advantages of the previous one as well as losing what is familiar and facing fear of the unknown.

Untimely Ruins: An Archaeology of American Urban Modernity 1819-1919, University of Chicago Press, 2010

American ruins have become increasingly prominent, whether in discussions of “urban blight” and home foreclosures, in commemorations of 9/11, or in postapocalyptic movies. In this highly original book, Nick Yablon argues that the association between American cities and ruins dates back to a much earlier period in the nation’s history. Recovering numerous scenes of urban desolation—from failed banks, abandoned towns, and dilapidated tenements to the crumbling skyscrapers and bridges envisioned in science fiction and cartoons—Untimely Ruins challenges the myth that ruins were absent or insignificant objects in nineteenth-century America.

The Complete Rugby Union Compendium, Arena Sport, 2015

Detailing every Test match ever played by the top ten international teams (Argentina, Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales) as well as histories and head-to-head statistics for the second and third tier international teams (Canada, Fiji, Georgia, Japan, Namibia, Romania, Russia, Samoa, Tonga, the United States of America and Uruguay), The Complete Rugby Union Compendium is the definitive source of statistical information on Test match rugby union. With over 5,700 entries presented in a visually engaging format, this book also features over 100 facts and anecdotes from more than a century of rugby union and includes fascinating trivia on the Rugby World Cup, global stadia, trophies, tournaments and competitions. In this unique guide, Keith Young has created a veritable treasure trove for all rugby enthusiasts. The new edition has been updated with fresh images and statistics from the Rugby World Cup in 2015.

ISBN 9781909715400 Price £12.99

Keith Young, a lifelong rugby fan, was born in south Wales but has lived in Dublin for most of his life. He is a graduate Mathematician and a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. His dual interest in rugby and statistics stimulated him to write this unique compendium.